


Elspeth at the End

by lasthistoryman



Category: Magic: The Gathering (Card Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Elsepth's Home Plane, Gen, One Shot, Short, Short One Shot, Violence, Which was formerly scottish based on her name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27502765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasthistoryman/pseuds/lasthistoryman
Summary: Elspeth returns to her home plane and manages to overthrow the Phyrexian empire controlling it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Elspeth at the End

Elspeth retrieved her spear from the body of the praetor with a grunt. She had dealt with the last of the Phyrexians’ leaders. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she walked towards the edge of the dam, and saw the multitude who had gathered on either side of the riverbed far below, where a weak, polluted trickle could barely parch the tired and cracked earth. What remained of the Resistance stood in the shadow of the dam, under a darkened sky.

They were so much like the world they inhabited. Exploited beyond their capacity to provide. Stripped of their names. Their very essence drained.

They stood there, silent and unsure, looking up at her as if expecting something.

She flinched as a drop fell on her face. Then another. And another. Rainfall rising from a drizzle to a deluge.

They looked up at the downpour, then at each other with slowly dawning realization. A single raised voice, competing for volume with the rain, was enough to wake them from their trance. A cheer passed through the crowd until all of them were crying out at once, the crowd whipped into a clamor. They held each other, arm in arm, and hand in hand, as they lifted praises up to whoever was listening.

They were finally free.

The rain washed over Elspeth, and she could almost feel the grit on her skin, the ichor on her armor, and the blood from her wounds pooling around her feet. She could even feel the tears which now ran freely down her face getting lost in the cool rainfall.

A mechanical sound from deep beneath her feet told her that someone inside decided to throw the switch to some mechanism within the dam, and not long after, she watched the weak trickle that flowed from it surge into a powerful torrent. The crowd retreated from the riverbed with a cheer as the water surged into a course it had almost forgotten, water still choked with poison and pain. A river running was never the same river, and one day, its sufferings would be a distant memory. Maybe hers would be too.

She almost didn’t notice the person who emerged from behind her. She said nothing as Calix moved beside her, taking in the view as well.

“It’s time.”

She nodded.

“I’m ready.”

She took his hand as they planeswalked away.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: "Elspeth" and "Tirel" are both scottish names, which is why I decided her plane was Scottish-inspired. The Phyrexians make good British stand-ins.
> 
> Also, I imagined water, specifically in lakes and rivers, is almost sacred in their plane's original culture, which is why it's so important here.


End file.
